LONG-TIME Australian motoring identity and passionate muscle car collector David Bowden has passed away at the age of 82.
A retired futures and commodities trader, Bowden made it his mission to rescue, save and restore classic Australian racing cars with a specific focus on the glory years of muscle cars.
The Sunshine Coast-based car collector and his family have held some of the most important cars in Australian motorsport history within their collection.
The likes of Allan Moffat’s Coca-Cola Mustang, Pete Geoghegan’s Super Falcon GTHO, Norm Beechey’s Shell Monaro Kevin Bartlett’s Nine Sport Camaro, Peter Brock’s Bathurst-winning Marlboro HDT A9X Toranas and many more sit, and have sat, within the Queensland collection.
Bowden worked numerous jobs in the car industry in his younger years, beginning as an apprentice mechanic in Brisbane at Coach Craft Ford before moves between Sydney, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, North Queensland and Darwin.
He became friends with Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan in the 1960s after a trip to Warwick Farm and developed a strong passion and love for Australian muscle cars of the era.
“The 1970s were golden years,” read a post on Bowden’s Own Premium Car Care’s Facebook page today made by sons Dan and Chris.
The 1973 Allan Moffat title-winning Falcon GTHO Phase III part of the Bowden’s collection. Photo: an1images.com / John Morris, MPIX
“Dad developed a deep passion for Australian muscle cars, especially the Falcon GT’s. It was during this era, after settling in Townsville with his beloved wife Pauline, that he acquired what would become one of the more important foundation cars of the collection — the now legendary XA GTHO Phase IV ‘protoype’.
“In 1982, he tracked down Pete Geoghegan’s famous 1971 GTHO Super Falcon, a car he loved after a memorable drive of it around Surfers Paradise to bed in the brakes. The look, the noise, and the raw power of that fuel-injected 600+ BHP Cleveland engine left a strong mark that never faded. But what he discovered a decade later broke his heart. The Super Falcon had become an unloved relic. He bought it and spent the best part of the next decade restoring it back to its most glorious moment — the legendary Easter 1972 Bathurst race it won against Moffat’s mighty Mustang.
“That car changed everything. From that moment, Dad made it his mission to find the many lost, unloved and forgotten racecars from the past, that nobody else seemed to want and save them. With Dan and Chris by his side, he tracked down some of the most significant competition cars Australia ever produced. ‘Pete’ Geoghegan’s 1965 Mustang, Brock’s Bathurst-winning Torana’s, Moffat’s Mustang and Falcon GT-HOs, KB’s Camaro, Dick Johnson‘s incredible collection, Norm Beechey’s Monaro, and so many more.
“He didn’t just collect them. He understood them, did what he could to preserve them, and shared them with other enthusiastic fans, all to make sure they’d never be forgotten. Nearly 50 historic cars that together stand as one of the greatest tributes to Australian motorsport history ever assembled.
“We will miss him every single day. But his legacy lives on in every car he saved, and in every life he touched with his extraordinary passion.”
A funeral service to celebrate Bowden’s life will be held on Thursday June 18 at 10.30am at Gregson & Weight Funerals in Maroochydore.
V8 Sleuth extends its deepest of sympathies to Dan, Chris and the entire Bowden family.